Ordinary Day
by NorwegianWood23
Summary: There's this blonde kid. And he keeps showing up in Leonard's dreams. And it's pissing him off, to be quite honest. Full of fluff and clichés, because I can never resist the two. Title shamelessly yanked from the song by the same name.


**Author's Note: Yeah, so this uh...have you all heard the song Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton? A friend pointed out that it sounded vaguely McKirkish, and. Well. Here you have it. Unbeta'd, as usual. Pretty sure there's some tense issues in here, but after two or three read-throughs, I'm still not positive. Anyhow. Enjoy. **

* * *

><p><em>Bright blue eyes gazed at him from the doorway to his bedroom, a blindingly white smile flashing at him. The blonde man was holding his hand out again.<em>

"_Why do you keep coming back here?" _

"_I'm not leaving until you come with me, old man. You know you're not meant to be in this place, right? Come with me. It's a hell of a lot better out here-" and here he gestures to the area behind him, which should be Leonard's hallway and living room, but has turned into a map of the galaxy, "-than it is in here. You're gonna be miserable forever if you stay here."_

"_Look, kid, I don't know who you are, or why you keep coming back here. But I'm not leaving anytime soon. I've got a little girl to look after." _

"_She'll be fine. I promise you'll be happier with me. You won't regret coming with me." _

"_Yeah, whatever you say."_

"_I know what I'm talking about. So get your old ass out of bed, and come with me."_

"_Not today, kid."_

_And the smile's gone, briefly, replaced with a frown. Then the smile's back. _

"_Suit yourself. But I'll be back. Promise."_

"_Uh huh."_

Leonard stirred from the dream, his eyes opening slowly, beams of sunlight streaming in through the blinds of the cheap hotel room, landing on his face.

"Dammit," he muttered to himself, sighing and closing his eyes again. It was the fourth time that week that he'd had that dream, and he was starting to resent the beautiful blonde, blue-eyed man in his dreams. Each night, he asked him to come with him, and each night, Leonard rejected him in the hopes that the dreams would stop.

For the past four months, they hadn't stopped. Nearly every night since Jocelyn had caught him staring a little too long at the attractive young man bussing tables at their restaurant, Leonard had had the dream. It was like the blonde man was taunting him, his subconscious creating a stereotypically beautiful young man to appeal to Leonard's sexual identity midlife crisis.

And that really pissed Leonard off.

Groaning, he finally forced his eyes open, and slowly sat up in the bed. It was like sleeping on cardboard, and his back was killing him.

"'m too old for this shit," he mumbled, cracking his back and standing up to shuffle his way to the tiny bathroom to take care of business. It was a he was washing his hands in the sink that he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror, and grimaced.

The past five months had been rough on him. Living out of a suitcase, fighting court battles for custody of Joanna, changing from hotel to hotel, and drinking himself to sleep every night had taken its toll on him. His skin was dull, the tan he normally had from working out on the farm in his free time fading away, revealing more wrinkles around his eyes and mouth, frown lines and crows feet deepening with each passing day. The circles under his eyes were akin to bruises, and he hadn't shaved in several days, and was sporting the beginnings of what could be a very impressive beard. His hair was flat against his head, and had gotten shaggy. Sighing, he ran his hands over his face.

He could not wait for all of this shit with Jocelyn to be over with. She was dragging the court cases out, claiming Leonard was unfit to have even partial custody of his baby girl. She'd even gone so far as to accuse him of verbal and physical abuse of them both. It had quickly become apparent that she'd lied, at least about how he treated Joanna; Leonard loved his little girl, and treated her like a damn princess.

Jocelyn, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. After that night at the restaurant, she'd gotten angry, and the next week had been nothing but them screaming and yelling at each other. The only time they'd taken a break was when Joanna was home, and even then, there'd been snarky responses, nasty looks, and a tension in the air that could have been cut with a knife. Leonard was ashamed to say he lost his temper one day, and had shoved Jocelyn into the wall, before storming out and driving down to the nearest bar to drink his anger and shame away.

He hadn't come home that night.

Or the next night.

When he finally did come home, his things were in several boxes on the lawn, along with a note telling him he'd be blasted full of lead if he showed up again. That had been the start of his stint in numerous anonymous hotels, where he'd brought various nameless people back from the bars; mostly women, although he had successfully picked up a man one night. Unfortunately, he'd been so drunk he couldn't even get it up, and the guy had left, muttering something to himself about pathetic old drunkards.

Things had just gone downhill from there. He'd lost his job at the hospital, the rumors Jocelyn had been spreading finding their way to the higher ups. He was thankful for the substantial amount he'd saved up over the years, storing it away in a separate account, just in case.

He'd never imagined this would be his "Just in case" scenario, however.

Unfortunately, his money was beginning to run out, and he had to find some kind of employment. He was losing the custody battles based on that alone, and he couldn't stand the thought of never being able to see his daughter ever again.

So, Leonard did what he did best when under stress and needing to think.

He found the nearest bar, and set up in a corner in the back, nursing a pitcher of beer, absently watching people as he mulled over his options.

There wasn't much of anything of interest in the bar. Lots of people too young for Leonard to associate himself with, and some even older than he was. Lots of kids sporting red uniforms that he vaguely recognized from the commercials on the holos JoJo liked to watch.

He was doing a pretty damn good job of tuning out the noise of the bar, allowing himself to think properly. He found himself staring at many of the kids running around the bar without really seeing them. There were a few aliens here and there that caught his eye, but nothing worth taking a serious interest in.

It was a flash of blonde hair that managed to pull him out of his thoughts.

Squinting through the haze of cigarette smoke and the too-bright lights, Leonard focused on the blonde man leaning against the bar, attempting to pick up a dark haired girl with deep, mocha colored skin and large, beautiful brown eyes. She was quite beautiful, and apparently having none of the kid's flirtations. Leonard smirked as the blonde struck out yet again, his cocky smile fading a little, before coming back in full force as he leaned into the girl's personal space. She smiled and shook her head, rolling her eyes at whatever it was he'd said.

Leonard felt his eyebrow go up when several more, much larger men, all wearing the same red uniform the dark haired girl was wearing, walked up. The biggest one, a bald, scowly sort, was glaring at the blonde. He asked a question, and the girl laughed, which Leonard imagined was a high, sweet laugh, and brushed him off. She turned back around to the bar to finish ordering, and the big guy-Meathead, Leonard decided to call him-put his hand on the blonde's shoulder. Blondie brushed him off, and Meathead reached back for him, causing Blondie to whirl around and land a punch directly in the middle of Meathead's face. In the blink of an eye, an all out brawl had started, between Blondie, Meathead, and Meathead's friends. Leonard watched from his corner, scowling at the lot. They were the kind of kids he hated coming into the ER, limping in with broken bones, bruised eyes and split lips nearly every weekend, never learning their lesson.

With a frighteningly loud _crack, _Blondie was thrown onto a table, and Leonard finally got a good look at his face.

His heart stopped and his jaw fell open.

Staring blearily back at him was the blue eyed man from his dreams.

As if Leonard's life couldn't get any weirder.

A whistle tore through the bar, causing everyone to freeze. Leonard glanced up long enough to see a grey-haired man in a black uniform similar to those red ones standing amongst the wreckage, scowling at the kids.

"Get out of here and report back to Starfleet immediately," he commanded in a voice that demanded no arguing. The kids quickly scampered off, leaving the blonde sprawled over the table, and Leonard, lurking in his corner.

"You can whistle really loud, you know that?"

Leonard's gaze snapped back to the blonde, laying on the table, bloody and bruised and glaring up at the grey-haired man. Leonard still couldn't believe his eyes. Finishing off his beer, he quietly slid out of his chair and slunk towards the door, catching bits and pieces of their conversation before hurrying back to his hotel room.

Starfleet.

The name rattled around in Leonard's brain, refusing to leave him alone until he settled down on his bed with an old PADD, doing a quick search on the name. He sighed when it finally became clear just what Starfleet was. He sighed even more when he saw that the next shuttle departing for the Academy was leaving early tomorrow morning.

Joining the military? Was that really an option he was considering?

Groaning, he set the PADD down and closed his eyes, mulling the situation over, eventually lulling himself into a light sleep.

* * *

><p><em>And there he was again. Except this time, he was dressed like the kid in the bar. <em>

"_So you're real, huh?"_

"_I told you." And he's grinning, the same cocky grin the kid wore when he tried to pick up the girl in red. Only thing is, he's got dried blood from his nose to his chin, a bruise beginning to swell beneath his right eye, and a shallow cut over the bruise. He looks like hell. _

_And he's still beautiful. _

_Dammit. _

"_Just what in the hell do you want?"_

"_Come with me. I promise you'll be happier."_

"_And just where in the hell are you going?"_

"_Out there." He gestures to the space behind him, which is once again stars and planets and endless blackness, where there should be a shitty hotel room with broken down furniture and booze bottles everywhere. _

"_I'm not following you into space, kid. I don't even know your name."_

"_Oh, you will soon. All you've gotta do is ask."_

"_Okay. What in the hell's your name?"_

_A flash of pearly whites, and he's gone. _

His hotel comm going off is what wakes him up this time, jerking him from his light doze. Dazedly, he flailed around for the comm unit, finally hitting the answer button.

He's not prepared for the face that greets him.

It's the grey-haired man from the bar.

"Leonard H. McCoy?" he asks by way of greeting.

"Yeah," Leonard grunts eloquently. The man seems unfazed by his condition, plowing right ahead.

"Doctor, I noticed you at the bar tonight. I also know you've been searching for a job. I'd like to offer you a position in Starfleet. You could be the Chief Medical Officer of any of our ships, oversee your own crew, and essentially run your own practice."

Leonard blinked a few times, not quite sure if he was still dreaming or not.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"You heard me. I've heard about you, McCoy. They say you were a genius at your hospital before you left."

Leonard snorted at that.

"I didn't leave so much as I was kicked out."

"Whatever the circumstances, I believe you could be an asset to Starfleet. We leave tomorrow at 0700 hours. Don't disappoint me, McCoy. Pike out." The comm went dead, and Leonard was left staring dumbfounded at his comm unit.

He wasn't sure what was going on in his life anymore. First, he sees the beautiful man from his dreams. Now, this Pike character was attempting to recruit him for Starfleet? What the hell?

Leonard flopped back down on the bed, reaching for his nearly empty bottle of whiskey, and chugging some of the contents while mulling his decision over.

It wasn't until nearly an hour before the shuttle was supposed to leave that Leonard finally came to a conclusion. Tossing several PADDs full of pictures and memories of Joanna and his previous life, the last two bottles of his whiskey, and a few changes of clothing, Leonard slapped some credits down on the nightstand and hurried out of the room, dropping his key off at the desk and bolting for the nearest bus.

He made it to the shuttle on time, the first good thing to happen to him in a long time.

Except as soon as he got on board, he remembered his aviophobia. His heart began to pound furiously, and his hands began to sweat. He felt like his throat was trying to close up on him, and he knew he was giving the people around him the crazy eyes. Hell, he was still partially drunk, which would probably explain just why the interior of the shuttle was slightly off-kilter.

Finally, he spotted the tiny little bathroom, which was sure to be windowless, and made his way back to it. Locking the door behind him, he heaved a sigh of relief and sat down on the toilet, dropping his head in his hands. He could survive the ride if he stayed in here.

Unfortunately for him, luck was not on his side that day. Just as he'd managed to calm himself down (with a few nips from his hip flask to help speed up the process), the door was slammed open, and a petite brunette with a scowl on her face was staring at him.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take your seat before we can depart."

"I'm not going out there."

"Sir, you need to take your seat."

"Look, lady, I have aviophobia, which means-"

"SIT. DOWN!" she snarled at him, having hauled him up and out of the tiny bathroom, glaring up at him stubbornly.

"Fine," Leonard grumbled, scowling back at her and heading back into the interior, looking for an empty seat. He finally found one.

Next to Blondie from the bar last night. Leonard knew he was giving the crazy eyes again, partially from fear, partially from disbelief.

"I may throw up on you," he blurted out as he settled into the small seat, fastening his belt.

"I hear these things are pretty safe."

"Don't pander to me, kid!" And Leonard was off, ranting to the kid about diseases and the dangers of space, and the various ways they could die if the hull cracked or the shuttle crashed.

The kid took it all in with a bemused smile on his face, eyeing the flask clutched tightly in Leonard's hand. Vaguely aware of him staring, he offered it to him, tongue flicking out to wet his lips when the blonde's lips closed over the opening.

Two more hellish hours later, they were landing. It was then that Leonard realized he hadn't gotten the kid's name.

"I'm Leonard, by the way. Leonard McCoy."

The blonde made a face, as if the name alone offended him.

"Leonard? Oh man. We're going to have to do better than that for you. And I'm Jim Kirk."

Leonard scowled a little at the implication of his name not being good enough, but let the comment go without further grousing.

When they landed, Leonard had fully expected them to part ways, dream or no dream. Sure, the blonde of his dreams had always asked him to come with him; but it seemed to him that _this _blonde, this Jim fellow, couldn't sit still for very long. Jim seemed like the type to bolt as soon as he possibly could, and never tie himself down to one place for too long. Leonard, on the other hand, was a complete homebody, and knew he wouldn't be able to handle the sense of adventure he was getting from Jim.

So when he felt a hand clasp on his shoulder after going through registration (which took too damn long, if you asked him) and getting the key to his dorm room, he was mildly surprised to find Jim's grinning face.

"Guess who's rooming with me for the semester!" he chirped, dangling a room key with the same number as the one on Leonard's in front of him. Leonard scowled at him, only slightly irritated.

"Oh goody," he grumbled, rolling his eyes and slinging his back over his shoulder.

"Awww, c'mon Bones! It'll be fun!"

"Bones?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yeah! You said you were a doctor, right?"

"Surgeon," he grunted, having begun to walk in the direction of their dorm building.

"Whatever. They used to call 'em sawbones back in the day! So, Bones! I think it fits."

"Of course you do."

Leonard sighed, resigned to having the overgrown child as his roommate for the next year. He was starting to question whether his dreams had found the right guy or not. Surely there was no way this Jim kid was the one his subconscious had been nudging him towards…

* * *

><p>Months passed between that first meeting, and if Leonard thought the dreams would have become less and less frequent, he was wrong. If anything, they'd become more intense, what with the object of said dreams sleeping not ten feet away from him.<p>

"_Look, you finally found me. Now let's go!"_

"_Jim, I don't know what the fuck you're thinking, or where you're wanting to go, but I'm not going with you."_

"_I'm going into space! Bones, I'm gonna be a captain. And you're coming with me."_

"_You know, this is really weird now that you know my name. And I know yours. How in the hell is this even working?"_

"_Fuck if I know, man. But I'm being serious. You're going to come with me."_

"_No, I'm not. You forget my aviaphobia, Jim. I'm going to stay right here on Earth, thank you very much."_

"_You'll see. You'll come with me. One way or another, I'll convince you of it. Promise."_

Leonard growled to himself as the dream faded, and reality sunk in. He wasn't sure how Jim was doing it, but he was going to figure it out if it was the last damn thing he ever did.

"Hey, old man!" chirped a far too cheerful voice from across the room. "You awake yet? I brought you breakfast, since it's your big day!"

Leonard didn't open his eyes, but scowled anyhow. He was sure Jim would see it, or at least sense it. Kid was developing a sixth sense for all things Leonard-related.

"Aww, c'mon Bones, don't be grumpy! I got you _waffles. _How can you be angry when there are _waffles _around?"

"How in the hell did you manage to bring an entire plate of waffles back to our dorm?"

"Skills, my friend. Now, up!" Leonard grunted as the covers were yanked off of him, and Jim was pouncing on his bed, climbing over him and shaking his shoulders.

"Up and at 'em!" Jim laughed in that obnoxiously cheerful way of his, and Leonard snarled at him.

"Get off of me!"

"Not until you get up! Come one, Bonesy, gotta be up and ready for the Kobiyashi Maru!"

"That you've already failed two times prior to this. Nobody passes it. I don't know why you're so excited about this."

"I've got a good feeling about it this time, Bones. Magic's gonna happen, I can just tell."

Leonard felt his eyebrow raise, and he finally opened his eyes to stare incredulously at the blonde currently sitting on his stomach.

"What did you do?"

"Absolutely nothing. Just got a good feeling. Now get up, Bonesy." And he's grinning stupidly at him again, and Leonard's quickly come to realize he can't resist Jim when he smiles like that. Groaning, he shoved the other man off of his stomach and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Did you at least get coffee on your way back?"

"Sure did!" And Jim's up and off the floor, completely unfazed despite having been thrown on his ass just seconds ago. He comes back to the bed with the plate of food and a cup of hot coffee (black, just like McCoy likes it, which Jim can't seem to fathom), and settles on the end of the bed, watching Leonard eat. He's nearly vibrating with energy, and Leonard can't decide if it's cute, or obnoxious.

He settled on the latter.

"Why don't you go run laps or something? Go find that Orion girl you like so much; what's her name again? Gaila? I don't know. Something. You're fucking annoying, sitting right there, vibrating with energy. Go release some tension."

Jim laughed at the comment, quickly putting on his best "come hither" face, and leaning forward.

"Maybe you could help me 'release some tension', _Doctor,_" he purred, winking up at Leonard.

Leonard swallowed, shifting his hips slightly, not sure what to make of just how quickly that voice had gone to his cock.

"Get out of here, you ridiculous twat," he growled, taking a sip of his coffee to occupy his mouth before he said—or did—something stupid.

Jim laughed again and climbed off the bed.

"Fine, fine. But you're no fun, Bones."

"Whatever."

"I'm serious. You have a nice ass. Maybe one day you'll let me pound it."

Leonard sputtered, spraying coffee everywhere.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh man, that was totally worth the look on your face!" Jim was red in the face he was laughing so hard, and he actually had to wipe tears from his eyes. Leonard felt his face heating up, and he scowled even harder at Jim.

"Out!" he shouted, tempted to hurl the coffee cup at him. Still laughing, Jim complied, ducking out of their dorm room and leaving Leonard to eat his breakfast in silence.

And Leonard tells himself it's not the look Jim gave him earlier that causes him to stroke himself in the shower; he hasn't gotten laid in almost a year, and every little thing was likely to turn him on.

That's what it was. Not Jim's face when he uttered those words, and not the seriousness he'd detected in the blonde's voice. Nope. Not at all.

* * *

><p>Leonard stumbled out of the Kobiyashi Maru several hours later, in shock.<p>

Jim had fucked with the computer system. There was no other explanation. He knew that's exactly what had happened, no matter how much Jim denied it or tried to tell him it wasn't cheating.

"Why the long face, Bones? I told you I had a good feeling about this test!"

Leonard turned to glare at Jim, who was grinning cheerfully at him.

"You cheated, Jim. That's why you had such a good feeling about it."

"I did not cheat! I simply out-smarted the test."

"You cheated."

"Stop being so negative, Bones! That's not what it was."

"Whatever."

Jim whistled happily, hands tucked behind his head, as they trudged back to their dorm room. Leonard was ready to get out of the stupid simulation uniform, and back into his regular clothes. They had the rest of the day off, and he planned on using it to relax before his xenolinguistics final tomorrow.

His mouth was open to ask Jim what he planned on doing now, when he was interrupted by the beeping of Jim's PADD. Eyebrows furrowed, Jim pulled the device out of his back pocket and opened the message. His face hardened as he read the message on it.

"Jim? What is it?"

Jim wordlessly handed the PADD over to Leonard, jaw clenched and face set into a hard glare.

_Dear Cadet Kirk-_

_You are hereby summoned for trial for hacking a school computer program in order to cheat on a test. Your academic career at Starfleet will be determined at this time. Please report to the main hall in approximately two hours. _

_-Christopher Pike_

Leonard stared at the PADD for several long moments before handing it back, his mouth hanging open slightly.

"I…what in the hell?"

"Bullshit," Jim muttered, snatching the PADD back. "I'm going…I'm going to go do some research. Or something." With that, Jim turned and jogged off, leaving Leonard staring after his retreating form in confusion and worry. He'd never seen Jim upset like that, not in their three years at the Academy together.

It worried him more than he cared to admit.

The trial ended up being interrupted by a distress call from Vulcan, for which Leonard was both grateful and annoyed by. He was rushing for his post, which was aboard the _U.S.S. Enterprise, _when he and Jim both discovered that Jim was grounded. And Leonard knew he'd regret doing it, but when Jim gave him that half-hearted smile, his eyes wide and sad and reminding him of a puppy dog, Leonard knew he couldn't leave him there.

So he snuck Jim on board, and it turned out to be the best damn decision of his life.

Afterwards, when things were calm and they were limping back home, Jim came to Leonard's quarters, looking haggard and older than his twenty-five years.

"Hey," he murmured, collapsing on the bed next to Leonard, not waiting for an invitation. He immediately snuggled up to the other man, his arm going around his waist as Leonard shifted so they were both more comfortable. It wasn't the first time they'd fallen into bed together, especially not with their years of drinking together. But this time, there was a different sort of emotion behind it.

"Hey. Don't scare me like that again, okay?" Leonard murmured, reaching up to cup the back of Jim's neck. The movement was more intimate than they'd ever been with each other, but somehow, it felt right.

Leonard was starting to think all those years of dreaming about Jim had given him an unwarranted sense of simply _knowing _Jim and his body.

Fortunately for him, Jim didn't shy away from the touch. In fact, he leaned into it, closing his eyes for a moment, and smiling at the mild threat in Leonard's voice.

"Yeah. Promise." Jim sighed, snuggling in closer and resting their foreheads together. Leonard's heart began to pound furiously in his chest, but he didn't move. He wasn't quite sure what was going on right now, and if this was another dream…he really didn't want to wake up from it just yet.

Jim sighed again, tilting his head down and slotting their lips together in a soft, gentle kiss. Leonard froze for a moment, unsure of what to do. And then Jim pressed a little harder, and Leonard stopped thinking and simply went with it.

Later, after a few more lazy kisses and separate showers, when they were both more awake and the reality of what had happened sunk in, they fucked in a rush of adrenaline, collapsing together in a sweaty, panting heap on the bed.

Leonard prayed it wasn't a one time only thing shortly before dozing off.

"_Finally! God, I've been throwing myself at you since a week after we met, and you just weren't getting it."_

"_Okay, what the hell. How is this still happening? If getting us together was your goal, why in the fuck are you still showing up in my dreams?"_

"_Because you're still not coming with me. You're convinced you have to stay grounded. But you don't. You're going to come up to space with me, whether you like it or not."_

"…_.I still don't understand you, kid."_

"_Nah, but you love me."_

_Leonard didn't respond, but the look on Jim's face said it all. _

Jim's luck ended up holding out, and his charges were dropped, and he was allowed to stay and finish out his time at the Academy.

The night that they received the news, Leonard and Jim celebrated by drinking themselves into near blackout, and having loud, giggly sex that left them both with bruises in various places, that neither could recall getting.

The year finished out, and Jim was granted his own ship; the _U.S.S. Enterprise, _much to his delight.

Leonard followed him, coming on board as his CMO.

That was when the dreams finally ended. Leonard had known, as soon as it became clear that Jim wasn't going to leave him alone, either in the real world or in his dream world, that he was going to go wherever Jim asked him to go. Somewhere along the line, without him realizing it, Leonard had fallen in love with Jim.

And dammit all if the kid wasn't just smug as hell about it.

Fortunately, he too, had fallen in love, despite his best tries of rejecting the emotion.

It was a year into their first five year mission, and two years after that first night together on board the _Enterprise_, and they were laying in bed, wrapped around each other. Leonard was lazily stroking Jim's hair, and Jim was nuzzling the side of Leonard's neck.

"Hey, Bones?"

"Hmm?" Leonard glanced down, hand pausing mid stroke.

"Did I ever tell you about my…dreams?" he asked. Leonard could feel the heat coming off of Jim's face, pressing into his neck, and he couldn't help but smile a little.

"No. What dreams?"

"Ummm…the ones about you."

Leonard felt his eyebrow raise, surprised by both the confession and Jim's sudden modesty.

"No, you never told me about dreams you had about me."

"Well…okay, Bones, this is going to sound really stupid." Jim sat up, staring earnestly down at the other man. "But it's all true, I swear."

Leonard tucked his arms behind his head, both eyebrows raised.

"Fine. Shoot."

"Well. Um. Since I was twenty one, I've been dreaming about you. Literally, you."

Leonard's eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into his hairline now.

"No, seriously. You were always showing up and grumping at me and telling me to stop being an idiot and get my act together. And then I got on that shuttle, and there you were, the man of my dreams. Oh God, that sounds so cheesey. But yeah, you were there, and I couldn't believe it. And then we ended up being roommates, and you _still _kept showing up in my dreams. Except this time you kept telling me to quit being stubborn and just make a move already, because I was going to lose you if I didn't. And…I don't know. I just got so freaked out by it all. And then the Nero thing happened, and afterwards we fucked, and well. I finally stopped having the dreams once you were officially on the _Enterprise _with me." He paused in his explanation, as if gathering his thoughts.

"You know, I don't really believe in fate. I think it's a load of bullshit, really. But this…this feels an awful lot like fate. And oh God, I sound like a raving idiot. I'm going to shut up now."

Jim's blush darkened, and Leonard chuckled, unfolding one arm to wrap around Jim's waist, resting on the small of his back.

"I think it is fate, darlin'. I never told you, but I had similar dreams. You kept showing up, right around the time my marriage to Jocelyn went south, and kept telling me to come with you. Thing is, I knew from the beginning I was going to. I just didn't want to admit it."

Jim's face split into a grin, and he bent down to steal a kiss from Leonard.

"We might just be the weirdest couple in the history of the universe, Bones. But I kind of love it that way."

Leonard laughed, pulling Jim back down on top of him.

"Me too," he murmured against his hair, wrapping both arms around him.

It was a strange way to start their relationship. But, since when had anything in Leonard's life really been all that normal? When had life with Jim been anything but bizarre and outrageous?

Leonard sighed, settling back down under the covers, content to hold the man of his dreams against his chest. Literally.

He was never going to get used to saying that. But it was kind of fun to be able to do so anyway.


End file.
